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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1955-01-20, Page 2"Dear Anne Hirst: What can 1 do with a another -in-law who tries to run the whole :Family? She loves her grandchildren, but must have her own way despite their ordered routine. She delib- erately wakes my baby up when it is obvious she wants to sleep. She tells me what to feed her (thought she is under our doc- tor's guidance) and dictates what she must wear, "She complained lately to my -;husband that I was stingy with our baby. I let her have the baby for an afternoon — with the result that she had an accident. "She insists we spend every holiday with the whole family, regardless of what we have planned. If I want to enjoy the day quietly at hone, she accuses me of trying to take her son away! Yet when I am sick she comes over and helps out, even takes me to the doctor.' "The situation is especially in- volved because my husband owns a business with his father and brothers. Their home is near- by, and he lunches there every day. . . I don't know what to do about all this, Do you? MRS. T. R. * Your mother-in-law is the * true matriarch, loving, kind, * possessive, domineering. She * considers herself the rightful * head of the family, entirely * competent (and chosen) to * run their private affairs. Hay- * ing raised a family herself, Easy! Use Scraps! Just ONE main pattern part for each garment! Quickly sew a complete wardrobe for daugh- ter's favorite doll! Picture her happy face when she sees the b 1 o u s e, jerkins, suspenders, skirt, beanie, sack -dress, elastic cinch -belt and nightgown, peig- noir, petticoat, panties, Pattern 4576 fits dolls from 14 to 22 inches! Be thrifty, use scraps! Send now! This pattern easy to use, sim- ple to sew, is tested for fit. Has complet illustrated instructions. Send THIRTY -FIVE CENTS (350) in ,:oins (stamps cannot be accepted) for this pattern. Print plainly SIZE, NAME, AD- DRESS, STYLE NUMBER. Send order to Box 1, 123 Eigh- teenth St„ New Toronto, Ont. * she laughts at modern practic- * es of diet and training,. and inn. * poses her old-fashioned ideas * upon her grandchildren in * such a high-handed manner * that it is almost impossible * for their parents to interfere. * She considers this her duty, * born of love for them all, Her * deliberate planning of your 'a personal life is an no yin g * enough. But when she inter- * feres with the raising of your * baby, you must protest, Whose * baby is it, after all? If a moth- * er has any rights, the first one * is to bring up her child in the * way she thinks he should go. * If you are ever to escape from * your mother-in-law's doming- * tion, you will have to have * your husband's cooperation. * Explain to him that you and * he are responsible for the wel- * fare of the baby. You have * enlisted the best medical ad- * vice, and it is your duty to fol- * low it. Tell him that from now 4' on you intend to, and you de- * pend upon him to back you *.up * Also, remind him that you * and he must have greater Ind- * vacy. Husband and wife can- * not enjoy a full life together * and grow closer with the years * if they share all their leisure * hours with either family. You * will join the reunions occa- * sionally, but you and he need * times alone with your baby; * this is your right and his. * Once he realizes how essential * it is, he will discover how * much happier he, and you, * can be. To convince him may * require all your courage, de- * termination and tact; he is * accustomed to his mother's * management and has accepted * it without question. But he * must be fair to you and his * child. I hope he will realize * that. a When you two talk this over * with his mother, be calm and * kind, Emphasize your appre- * dation of her helpful kind- * nesses, but remind her that it * is you and your husband who * must decide what is best for *.your baby, and for yourselves. * Good luck! Your mother-in-law should have your respect and, if pos- sible, your affection. But when she interferes with your chid- dren's training, you have to take a stand. Anne Hirst can advise you how to handle the situation tactfully. Write her at Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Toronto, Ont. - or C +,ra ler "If you like the nave of a color, you're half sold on the color itself! claims Wilfred H, S i n c 1 a i r, color conditioning supervisor of the paint and var- nish division of Canadian Indus- tries (1954) Limited. He is one man who doesn't believe that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Mr. Sinclair should know. For many years he has been dream- ing up tantalizing color names like "taffy tan" and "pink mist" and waching the response of people who buy the paint. "Whether she realizes it or not, a woman choosing a color for a room picks a name which suggests the atmosphere she. wants to create," Mr, Sinclair said. If she wants a lively room for a bustling family, names like "sprite green" "colleen" or "gaiety red" attract her. On the other hand, if she is dec- orating a room for more formal use, she will lean toward such designations as "dignity blue," "castle grey", "cameo ivory" or "court chartreuse", Names with happy associa- tions always have appeal, accord- ing to this color consultant. In 'rx aaata :aa. ° ,.yea"(.• Aracy Takes WACS From "lfldivea;"-The Women's Army Corps real. ly believes in its thernei "Don't Fish Around for a Future, Join the IMAC." Here, Recruiter l etiy J. Clayton signs up Thad* Wood, un. *sr water at Rein aaW Springs, Fla. Stop flight Here—As far as Adelle August, Lucy Marlow and Jand Mason are concerned, they have the solution to producer Jonie Tops' search for the world's most beautiful legs. The trio demon. strate they are ready to match legs with any contenders as they walk down a Hollywood movie set. the dead of winter, a wall paint with a name like "holiday tan" seems to bring the warmth of a sunny beach into a frostbound living room, Or a color called "wine glow" might revive warm memories of festive occasions. "Seashell" or "Cabot smoke" or "ocean green" stimulate the imagination with visions of far- away places; "honey gold" and .'bud green' arouse nostalgic thoughts of life on the farm. "The meaning of a name is important, but the sound must be satisfactory, too," Mr. Sin- clair maintains. "People like words they can roll their tongues around — names like 'parasol' and 'afterglow'." But all the tempting words in the English language will not sell colors unless they are the hues which people want. Color fashions in homes, change from year to year just as colors do in clothing. Today, for instance, the browns and orangy shades are high -style and pink is very popular, but blue is a color to watch for the future, he pre- dicts. Every shift in decorating fashion means new colors must be designed. And every new color is a fresh challenge to the poet -psychologist who puts the names on the paint cans. un'Totk' Lady Any week -end during hunting season is likely to find an auto- mobile piloted by a woman streaking north from St, Cathar- ines, Ontario, toward the wood- lands where game abounds. There is nothing strange in this — Many Canadian women hunt and shoot for recreation, But this particular hunter is unusual. At sportsmen's shows all across the country she is introduced as "the woman who knows all about guns." She is June Pinder, propri- etress of Pinder's Sportman's Centre in St, Catharines. Miss Pinder literally does know everything about guns and ammunition, She can discuss the ballistics of a shot -gun shell or rifle cartridge with authority. The people of the Niagara pen- insula have come to know that if they have a gun problem, the thing to do is take it to June. Time was, though, when this was not the case. The store was established by June's ' grand- . .father and carried on by her father. When he died a num- ber of years ago, June decided to stay in the business. She knew, of course, that she might have an up -hill battle because a man doesn't usually want to talk guns, rifles or fishing tackle with a woman. A woman, it was reasonable to suppose, could not possibly know as much about such matters as a man. For a while business wasn't too brisk, But it didn't take the sportsmen of the district long to find that she was a woman who could talk their language and at the same time add a little to their, knowledge, June's knowledge doesn't come merely from books, al- though she is an avid student and has read widely on outdoor subjects. She was brought up with guns and fishing rods :and finds it difficult to remember a time when she was not using one or the Ther. One Song Caused Twenty Suicides From the songs of Francois Villon, King of the Vagabonds, to the "Ballad of. Reading Gaol," song and ballad have continual- ly appeared in connection with law breakers. Italy has a whole collection of traditional criminal songs in praise of prison, and there is one British ballad on the same sub- ject which describes all H.M. prisons with feeling and pre- cision; It ends: "Portland is worst of the lot to joke in. For fetching -a lagging there's no place like Woking!" But what eerie effect is it whim ,- is exerted by certain types di, music? A Hungarian government official wrote a piece of music and then shot himself. By some morbid attrac- tion the composition became popular and the police attribu- ted twenty suicides to its influ- ence. The tune was banned in Hun- gary. But some little time later a man was found hanged in America with the name of the tune mentioned on a note in his pocket. In 1937 a woman was found dead in London, apparent- ly her own hand. In the room was a gramaphone which had run down and appeared to have been playing as she died. On the turntable was record of the ill- omened Hungarian tune, Several murderers have been fond of music. Eugene de Vere, who killed a girl in 1926, was a competent performer on the ac- cordion. Thurtell, who murder- ed Weare at Elstree in 1823, came home from the deed and insisted on a sing -song. "Brides in the Bath" Smith insured a woman he had "mar- ried" and on the day that she made her will in his favour he decreed that she must take a bath. That evening there was heard a splashing in the bath- room followed by a long sigh. A few minutes later there was the sound of the harmonium down-, stairs. Smith was playing a hymn. He was not the only one who Iiked hymns, Peace used to -play them on a one -stringed- fiddle and Robert Butter, whose crimes shocked Australia and New Zealand, played hymns on the prison organ on the day before he was executed. Two other men who took their love of music to the gallows were John Stewart, who mur- dered an Edinburgh merchant and sang an the scaffold, and that engaging rogue who asked as a last request that at his pass- ing would play "The Wearing of the Green." WE WERE FIRST The first railway post office car was introduced in North America on the Grand Trunk Railway, now part of the Cana- dian Natibnal Railways, in 1854. The experimental car Iran be- tween Niagara Falls and .London, Ont., seven years before a similar unit was introduced in the United States, and was de- signed to speesd nail delivery service. 114444.1. V ION ICL w 8f rel rk Can you believe it . . the time has really come to wish you, one and all, a happy 1955. It just seems no sooner do we get used to one set of figures for a date -line than we have to change it again. Maybe 1 have a special affinity for some figures as I enjoyed writing 1954. It was a nice; even, adaptable date, easily divisible by two. But you take 1955 — nothing will divide into it until you get to five, What difference does that make? Actually, none at all — except that I like even numbers better than odd. They look tidier, if you know what:I mean. However, odd or even, I suppose most of us will welcome the New Year. It gives you a sort of lift, doesn't it? Here is a new year; twelve whole months, fifty-two weeks, three hundred and sixty-five days — and each day, week and month a new beginning. Just think what we can do with all that time! But then maybe we remember — we had that same thought last year. And now the old year has past we can look back and assess the value of what we did and how we spent our time. Are you sat- isfied with your findings? I am not — far from it. For that rea- son • I am glad of another new year . . a new start; another opportunity to get done the things I didn't accomplish in '54. Whether that is possible re- mains to be seen. However, I would like to start the New Year by thanking all those who sent cards, letters and good wishes at Christmas time. I appreciate all your kind re- marks. And believe me your interest and understanding helps me to keep this column going week after week. As you know, I write about anything that has interested me during the pre- ceding week, even though I relaize that what interests one person may not interest an- other. You remember one week I wrote about my Christmas cac- tus, That brought forth quite a few letters as other folk were also having trouble with plants blooming too soon; buds drop- ping off and so on. There is only one thing that will hold back the bloom of a Christmas cac- tus. and prevent the buds from dropping off, and that is to keep the plant in a cool place. The best luck I ever had with a Christmas cactus was during the years when we didn't have a .furnace. It was easy enough then to find a cool room! In fact the cactus eventually got frozen so badly it never recov- ered. We got frozen too — more or less — but we managed to go on living. The plant I have now was given me by a friend who moved away and had no room for the plant in her new home. Each year, after the cactus has bloomed it is a good idea to encourage a little new growth. • Don't worry if roots come through the bottom of the pot. The cactus is one plant that likes to be pot-bound. It is also a good idea at this time to pot a few slips for giving away to friends. Another subject often men- tioned in this column which I find is a sure-fire hit 'with my reader -friends is any little item in connection with the Women's Institute. I think about seventy- five percent of my readers must be W.I. members. And you know how it is — every W.I. member likes to know what other branches are doing; what sort of programmes they have; how they raise money, and what to do when no one wants to take office, And then there is that little problem of when, and to whom, should life -member- ships be given, At our last meeting, being still in the mood for giving, we presented two of our senior members with a life membership pin, They were both taken completely by sur- prise. We were all very happy to see how pleased they were with our token of appreciation for the years of faithful service they had given our branch. Rielly, I am constantly am- azed at the amount of good work that is done all over Ontario by W.I. members. But maybe you wonder sometimes why I don't mention Farm, Forums, Agricultural Societies, Feder- ation of Agriculture and other farm groups, all of whom do good work. That I realize but I limit my social activities to the W,I. I find that is all I have time for and, it happens to in- terest me the most. I often won- der how people who belong to so many organizations keep up the pace. Life must be one con tinual round of meetings . . and lunches! And lunches and slimming never yet went to- gether. Well, friends, there is another thought in my mind. While the year is in its infancy how about Income Tax returns? You know it really isn't much of a job when you get down to business. And with declining farm prices plenty of farmers will have very little to pay. The point is you have to prove it. And the only way you can prove it to -' the satisfaction of the Finance Department is by filing your re- turns. The receipt you get is your protection against- future inquiries. So ... a word to the wise — get it done and off your mind. And again — Best Wishes for A Happy New Year. "Twister" Of Fate—Prudent own• ers of this house in West London, England, have kept their port. able air-raid water pump (cir.. cled) ready for use all these years, but they never dreamed a freak windstorm would slice off the side of their dwelling. No one was iniured by the strange "twister" of fate. Hunt And Peck—Miss P, C. Wang, deputy commissioner of educa. tion in Formofia, watches a student learning the use of a Chinese typewriter during a commercial class at Chungtung Pilot Com. fnunify School in Taiwan. The Foreign Operations Administration has provided five Chinese and six English typewriters for the schoo